With the cold weather I’ve been firing up my Instant Pot daily to whip up soups, stews and other hearty recipes. I love recipes that are completely cooked in the Instant Pot multi-cooker which saves on clean up AND once I’ve sealed the ‘IP’ that I can go do something else!

To be clear I have nothing against traditional cooking methods, I just really can use more time in many days, particularly on weeknights for dinner. The versatility of the Instant Pot to prepare a variety of cuisines’ recipes with robust flavors ‘super fast’ is a win.

What is Jambalaya?

Jambalaya is a cajun recipe originating in Louisiana made with rice, celery, peppers and onion; with chicken and smoked or spicy sausage like Andouille. Shrimp is often added too.

This Instant Pot Jambalaya recipe does not include chicken but with a few little tricks is perfection with spicy sausage and shrimp!

How to make Instant Pot Jambalaya – Step by Step:

Oil is heated in the Instant Pot and the sausage slices sautéed to brown, then removed to a paper towel to drain. The vegetables are added to the Instant Pot to sauté, picking up the browned bits in the Instant Pot, flavoring the oil in the process.

Quick Ingredient Preparation Tip: I have mentioned I use a Mini Chopper for everything. It speeds up chopping and minimizes clean-up. If you have a mini chopper combine the onions and garlic to chop; add them to the Instant Pot at the prescribed time.

As they start to cook, combine the green pepper and celery to the mini chopper, pulse to chop and add to the Instant Pot. No knives or cutting board to clean up and the vegetables chop in a flash.

The rice and seasonings are added to the sautéed vegetables to fully coat the rice. The diced tomatoes, chicken stock, and salt are added, and the Instant Pot sealed to cook on high pressure for 8 minutes. When the cooking completes, a natural release for 5 minutes is followed by a manual release of the remaining pressures.

The mixture is stirred, and the sausage, shrimp and scallions are stirred in and the pot resealed to allow 5 minutes of warming in the residual heat (the Instant Pot is on Warm).

What does this Instant Pot Jambalaya Recipe Taste Like?

The seasonings in this recipe are on point. Bold and spicy in traditional Louisiana style. It’s a warming, filling recipe, perfect for winter’s chill. I loved the step of sautéing the sausage giving it a browned crust.

Adding the sausage and the shrimp at the end of the recipe, allowing it to only warm through, keeps a wonderful texture; firm, with a bite (not rubbery as overcooking can cause).

When making the Jambalaya recipe as written I found the rice was al dente. The goal of the recipe is to cook the rice through and avoid it becoming mushy. After researching, there are multiple ways to achieve this.

I found extending the cooking by a minute, allowing brief natural release followed by adding the sausage, shrimp and scallions, resealing the pot and warming in the residual heat provided a more satisfying result (the recipe reflects he changes I made).

If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Jambalaya or any other recipe on BoulderLocavore.com please don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know where you found it in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW MEFACEBOOK,TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m up to!

Instant Pot Jambalaya

'Jambalaya, a Louisiana meat, seafood, and rice staple, is quick and easy in the multi-cooker. By browning the sausage first and then stirring it in only at the end, you infuse the rice with its flavor, yet keep it from turning rubbery under pressure."-Super Fast Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Cookook

I would add, including the cooked shrimp at the end also allows it to keep non-rubbery texture which can occur when shrimp is over-cooked!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword instant pot jambalaya, jambalaya recipe

Prep Time10minutes

Cook Time25minutes

Total Time35minutes

Servings61 1/2 cup servings

Calories430kcal

AuthorToni Dash

Ingredients

2tablespoonsOlive Oil

12ouncesAndouille Sausagecut into ¼-inch-thick slices

1mediumOnionchopped

1mediumGreen Bell Pepperseeded and chopped

1medium stalkCelerychopped

3Garlic Clovesdiced

2teaspoonsCajun Seasoning

1/4 teaspoonground Thyme

1cupLong-Grain White Rice

114.5-ounce can Diced Tomatoesundrained

1 1/2cupsLow-Sodium Chicken Stock

1/2teaspoonKosher Salt

12ouncesmedium Cooked Shrimp(41-60 count)

4Scallionsthinly sliced

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in the inner pot at on Sauté. Add the sausage slices, and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a paper towel–lined plate to drain.

Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the Cajun seasoning, thyme, and rice, and stir until the rice is well coated in the oil. Press Cancel to stop the cooking.

Add the tomatoes and their juices, the stock, and salt. Stir.

Lock the lid. Cook on Manual High Pressure for 8 minutes, then allow a Natural Pressure Release for 5 minutes followed by manual release of the remaining pressure.

Stir the rice mixture, then stir in the shrimp, scallions, and reserved sausage. Replace the Instant Pot lid and allow the ingredients to heat through for 5 minutes in the residual heat.

This is such a lovely recipe for winter. I wouldn’t mind making it too since the boys in the family would absolutely love this dish. I also love cooking using my instant pot because it makes the clean up and the cooking easy for me!

Super Fast you say? You’re speaking my language. I rely on my pressure cooker a lot this time of the year. We have so much going on, by the time I get home I don’t have time to use traditional cooking methods unless we want to be eating dinner at 9pm. This recipe and cookbook both sound like something I need in my life!

I don’t think so Marianna because the volume might exceed the maximum suggested volume for the Instant Pot and it might be too thick as a double batch (so the Instant Pot wouldn’t be able to cook it properly).

I normally make my Jambalaya in a 12 qt Cajun Classic on the stove top. Tonight, I was looking for a smaller, faster version and found your masterpiece! This recipe is a gem and has been added to my shortcuts in Evernote to be used faithfully and frequently in the future. Thank you for my new favorite!!

Excellent recipe! I made this tonight but I altered it to add in 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs and cooked for 15 min. Turned out delicious. Not too much heat but definitely not bland. My husband says this is the best one I’ve made yet!

Hi, this looks great. I have a regular pressure cooker not an instant pot. Can I make this without the rice and cook the rice on the stove and add it later? My pressure cooker says not to cook rice or noodles in it. I have cooked noodles in it and it turned out fine but I don’t want to mess my pressure cooker up.

Hi Nicole. You are wise to proceed with caution. As noted in the post,this recipe was developed for the Instant Pot specifically. I personally am very familiar with the Instant Pot but have not worked with stove top pressure cookers enough to safely recommend adaptations, I’m sorry.

This was delish. I doubled the recipe in my 6 quart IP. Used chorizo and chicken which I BBQ’d with a sprinkle of cajun spice. I found it needed 2 more minutes in the IP. Perhaps because I doubled it (though in theory, it shouldn’t need to be). It could easily be tripled which I will do next time. Thanks for the recipe Toni Dash!

Glad you liked it! I had to play with the original recipe quite a bit to get the rice the way I like it (done completely without being mushy). I do think the added volume can definitely affect the cooking time for this type of recipe.

This was so easy, delicious, and quick! I was so hungry and my hubby was due home in 40 minutes, so I looked for a quick Jambalaya recipe for my Instant Pot. I found I had all of the ingredients for this recipe but the sausage, so I substituted chicken and it was great Not a leftover to be found! I will definitely make this again and just add the sausage to what I used! Thanks for a great recipe!

Yay! Jean I’m so happy to hear about the success you found with this recipe! It IS delicious and so easy. I love it when the clock is ticking and I have everything I need (by accident!) for a recipe. No one ever has to know you didn’t plan it all along! Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment!

Hi Dennis. I have an older model of the chopper linked to in the post above. Here is that link for your convenience: Mini Chopper (affiliate link). I really love it. I frankly use it to all my prep chopping and also use it as a mini food processor when making small batch sauces and dressing too. Hope that helps!

In case anyone is interested, I put this in the Weight Watchers calculator and it came out to 12 points per serving, which is totally doable if you plan for it. Also, you could reduce the points by using boneless skinless chicken breast instead of sausage!

I am originally from New Orleans and I have to say this is hands down one of the best jambalayas I’ve ever tasted! The combinations and quantities of ingredients and spices are perfect! This is now my favorite instant pot recipe!

This turned out wonderful! I made a double batch of this in my instant pot tonight and I added two chicken breasts as well! I also added probably a bit too much of “Slap Ya Mama” spice to it for my Cajun spice but it was awesome!

Hi, I’m confused! The ingredients say to use already cooked shrimp? So where is that done, in another pan and is it supposed to be seasoned? Or does the raw shrimp cook after it’s mixed in for the last 5 minutes? Also, shrimp with tails on or off? Thank you!

Hi Iris! You can buy pre-cooked shrimp at the grocery store OR frozen and just let them thaw before making the recipe (that’s what I have done; frozen shrimp is available in this size shrimp and this package size). I left the tails on as you see in the photo but if you want to remove them you can (otherwise your diners will as they eat). The shrimp will heat up and take on the seasonings of the dish during the time they are in the recipe BUT will not become overcooked or dry. Hope that helps!

Hi there! I was super excited to find this recipe! I haven’t had good Jambalaya since I went to New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina relief work in 2005! I made it tonight, but I didn’t have white rice on hand, so I used the brown I had. I knew brown would take longer to cook, so I upped the time to 20 min, but it still wasn’t done… any suggestions? This smells and looks amazing…

Oh no! So each type of rice (even types of white rice) have a different water to rice ratio and different cooking times in the Instant Pot. My guess is using the same amount of liquid for white rice for the substituted brown rice may not have been enough and the cooking time and release method may not be well matched to the brown rice.

The dilemma will be cooking longer may not cook properly if there isn’t enough liquid. If the other ingredients have been added they will over cook and the rice may not ever fully cook.

If it were me I probably would transfer the mixture to a heavy pot on the stove (remove the shrimp if you added it) and use your judgement about adding more liquid to cook it conventionally until the rice is done. Then stir the shrimp in. Good luck!

I should have said, I originally added more liquid, so there was plenty! I ended up just doing 10 more mins of high pressure, NR, then adding the shrimp and sausage… It came out amazing! SOOOOO happy with the results! Thank you for this recipe, it’s a keeper for sure!!!

This was the first recipe I used with my instant pot and it was very good. Te rice rice wasn’t mushy and the flavors really popped. Daughter had 2 servings, as did I plus I’m looking forward to leftovers at work.

Hi Sean. Unfortunately I’ve only made the recipe as written. It took some experimenting to get the rice to the perfect consistency.

Some IP recipes (like soups) can be doubled without concern. What I don’t know about doubling this one is about the rice: how to suggest adjusting the cooking time and liquid amount to ensure the same end result as a single batch. If you try it, will you let me know how it turns out?

Superb! This recipe is delicious!! I used fresh chorizo sausage and added some chicken thighs too. The rice turned out a bit more mushy than I’d like – not sure if that’s how it’s supposed to be – so I might reduce cooking time by a minute or two next time.

Just made this and it was delicious. I substituted the sausage with turkey sausage, just because it’s what I had on hand. I was sceptical as to how flavourful it would be because it cooks so quickly but, it was fantastic!

Primary Sidebar

About Me

Welcome! I’m Toni. My goal is to MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER with great tested recipes and travel tips! More About Me …

Search Boulder Locavore

Search this website

Archives

Archives

Footer

Boulder Locavore is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.